Amit Shah trapped in lift for 40 minutes; rescued by CRPF

Patna (PTI): BJP President Amit Shah and three other senior leaders were trapped in the lift of the state guest house here for around 40 minutes, throwing the security and party officials into a tizzy.

“The lift got stuck between the two floors and its metal doors also got jammed at around 11.30 PM last night. There was no lift operator or person capable of handling such emergency around. The mobile phones of those trapped inside were also out of range as they were in a closed box,” BJP state President Mangal Pandey said.

The incident happened when Shah was going from the ground floor of the state guest house to the first floor along with party in-charge for Bihar Bhupendra Yadav, Secretary Nagendra Ji and General Secretary Saudan Singh and a couple of security personnel. He was ultimately rescued by CRPF personnel who were present there as part of his Z+ security cover. They had to tear apart steel doors of the elevator to pull out Shah and other leaders trapped inside.

Recounting the horror, Pandey said all attempts to open the doors of the lift failed. The caretaker of the place was also not of much use in the situation and people waiting on the ground and first floors of the guest house became anxious about the condition of those trapped inside.

“Nothing worked and around 40 minutes passed. It was then that CRPF was asked to break open the doors. It did so and Shah and other leaders were rescued,” Pandey said, adding “Once the doors were broken, the trapped persons came out”.

“It is a gross dereliction of duty and irresponsibility shown by the people responsible for facilities at the state guest house. There was nobody present there to deal with such emergencies despite the fact that a person having Z+ security cover was staying there,” he said.

No government officials are available for comments. Meanwhile, Shah left for New Delhi by flight this morning. He came to Patna yesterday to participate in a forum organised by a vernacular daily. He was staying at the state guest house and was conducting meeting with party leaders in view of the forthcoming Assembly polls in Bihar.